Teachers may strike next term

Education Minister Anne Tolley.

Teachers could go on strike as early as next month amid building tension between their union and Education Minister Anne Tolley.

The Post-Primary Teachers' Association (PPTA) wants a 4 per cent pay rise.

But at the First-Time Principals Conference this week, Mrs Tolley warned: "This year's teacher collective agreement negotiations will need to reflect the current economic situation."

In the 2007 bargaining round, teachers won a rise of 4 per cent a year for three years.

"2010 is a very different environment," Mrs Tolley said.

Every 1 per cent pay increase for primary, secondary and early-childhood teachers would cost taxpayers an extra $50 million a year, she told delegates.

PPTA president Kate Gainsford said members had signalled "their extreme concern at any prospect of clawbacks".

"And they will consider industrial action if there are such things put on the table."

The union will lodge its claim on May 3.

- NZPA